IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - December 2021 - 20

Soft Law Governance of Artificial Intelligence
the landscape is sprawling, overlapping, and insular;
lacking consensus; and extremely hard to navigate.
It has few entry points for those who are seeking to
do the right thing, but do not know where to start,
and for citizens to find information that assures them
someone is " on the case. "
In this context, PR-style self-promotion of an AI soft
law is often counterproductive to earning trust-particularly
when it is focused on high-level principles or
the technical aspects of the soft law and not on the
legitimacy of its focus or its effectiveness in shaping
practice. But staying quiet about efforts comes with a
cost as well-familiarity is important to trust. By staying
under the radar, those designing or using soft law
are missing opportunities to avoid distrust and may
cause people to assume nothing is happening.
In this proposed approach, governance communications
seek to move from PR and broadcast mode
to a mindset of showing evidence of trustworthiness.
Communications which have an evidence of trustworthiness
mindset use many different mediums and
forms of communications to help demonstrate their
approach and alignment to the drivers of trust. They
show how commitments to integrity and accountability
are being upheld through their design and
implementation.
By focusing on evidence of trustworthiness, communications
can become an integrated part of governance
in action, creating two-way channels based
on the drivers of trust for interactions with stakeholders.
This can be done through deep listening and
compassion for the way people think and act, which
will allow for more tailored communications rather
than one-size fits all broadcasting. New ways of
engaging with stakeholders, particularly citizens-
such as interactions on social media, collective intelligence
in governance design, infographics, and new
forms of direct interaction-are blossoming.
To be innovative in how they interact with people
during their soft law development efforts, designers
should always be practicing the following.
Respectful communications
Respectful communications are written in plain
language, without jargon or technical terms. They are
easy to access and use multiple channels to reach
multiple audiences. For example, when running the
Bank of England, Mark Carney insisted that all communications
from the bank, even its reports, were
written in a language that anyone could understand.
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Respectful interactions
Respectful direct interactions should include ease
of contact. Timely response to concerns, thoughtful
handling of complaints and compassionate treatment
at every point of contact are all indications
of respectful practice. For example, the U.K. Revenue
and Customs service has won plaudits for its
policy that trained operators answer the telephone
promptly and instantly respond to even complex
requests-no long holds, no " press x for this and y
for that. "
Respectful explanations
Providing clear and accessible
explanations
about the process and outcomes of decision-making
is important to earning trust. Explanations about the
process of decision-making, the range of voices and
evidence taken into consideration, and the priorities
that helped steer the outcomes demonstrate respect.
The act of putting these explanations together can
help embed an evidence of trustworthiness mindset.
Admitting mistakes
Admit mistakes and rectify them quickly- " it's
never the problem, it's the cover up. " Time and
again, organizations make mistakes and instead of
owning up to them, they make strenuous efforts to
cover them up, making the problem infinitely worse.
Admit mistakes, rectify them quickly, and, where
that is not possible, explain why and what you are
doing about it.
With those practices at the core of the mindset
for those involved in designing and delivering governance,
the next step is to explore how governance
efforts are communicated outside of those who are
involved. The following suggestions come directly
from citizens and business-via the Food Standard's
Agency's Trust in a Changing World Deliberative Citizen
Forums, PA Consulting citizen research report,
Rethinking Regulation-from watchdogs of industry
to champions of the public and SocietyInside's analysis
of 19 public dialogues in Building Confidence in
Emerging Technologies-what stakeholders expect
and how companies can respond. There are six ways
to communicate evidence of trustworthiness to
citizens.
* Be more human-AI is the technology, and governance
is the human element that manages
it. Governance should communicate that way.
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - December 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - December 2021
